Disconnection | The Underground Bunker

When Scientology’s toxic policy of disconnection is forever: Saying goodbye to Angela Paris

[Valeska and Angela Paris]

Valeska Paris recently posted a crushing note on Facebook about her stepmother, Angela. We asked her if she wanted to write a more lengthy piece for the Bunker, and we’re very glad that we […]

Living with Scientology ‘disconnection’: ‘It’s important to never give up hope’

[Renata and Flavio]

Last week, we asked the people on our “Scientology disconnection, a reminder” list — which appears at the end of each story here at the Bunker — about how they are coping with the church keeping them from their loved ones. The result was an emotional outpouring from the people on the list […]

Scientology’s toxic policy of ‘disconnection’ — we check in with the people who endure it

[Bernie Headley and his son Marc, and Marc’s sister Stephanie]

More than a year ago, in January 2017, we wrote a story about Bernie Headley that got us pretty worked up. Here was a man who was fighting cancer and was being prevented from seeing his own daughter, Stephanie, by the Church of […]

Lori Hodgson’s fight with Scientology for her kids is now a book you can pre-order

Scientology’s ‘disconnection’ policy is an abomination. It’s a form of political extortion, pitting family member against family member in order to further Scientology’s tight control of its followers’ lives.

Every disconnection story is heartbreaking, but Lori Hodgson’s saga is particularly cruel and […]

Scientology relies heavily on Russian immigrants — and ‘disconnection’ doesn’t spare them

[Katrina Reyes and her mother Yelena, in their Sea Org whites]

We first heard from Katrina Reyes some nine years ago, when Jason Beghe encouraged her to talk to us for a story at the Village Voice. For various reasons, Katrina wasn’t ready yet to tell her […]

Disconnected at birth — another infuriating Scientology saga

[Brian Sheen and his daughter Spring]

We’ve written several stories about Brian Sheen, a Florida man who left Scientology many years ago, but who never had a problem with his daughter, Spring, continuing in the organization. But after Spring married into a wealthy Scientology donor family in 2014, she got the order from the church to […]

‘Leah Remini’ show prompting more ‘ranch kids’ to come forward with agonizing family drama

[Clarissa and Ethan Adams]

We continue to be amazed at the effect Leah Remini is producing with her A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath. As her second season progresses, we’re seeing more and more people speak up about their experiences in […]

Carol Nyburg is back, and she has a Scientology story that will rough you up

[Carol Nyburg and Jeff, the son who defied ‘disconnection’]

In 2013 we wrote about Carol Nyburg, a familiar face for many former Church of Scientology members who recall seeing her at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. Wealthy Scientologists from around the world spend vast amounts of money to visit Flag, Scientology’s “spiritual” headquarters, and […]

Phil and Willie Jones versus Scientology: The real story of how the billboard came to be

On Thursday, we published an account by Derek Bloch describing part of his experience in 2015 filming a television series about Scientology ‘disconnection’ that has yet to receive an airdate. When he saw what Derek had written, Phil Jones contacted us, asking to post his own experience with the unaired ‘Disconnection’ series and how it […]

Derek Bloch on fighting Scientology ‘disconnection’ in an unaired TV series

[Derek Bloch at HowdyCon in Denver with Cathy Schenkelberg and Willie Jones]

We first wrote about Derek Bloch at the Village Voice in 2012, and he’s been a pretty constant presence here since then. You probably know his story — that he was kicked out of the Sea Org for being gay, and then his family […]

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